Bill  $Jp.  59, 


A  BILL 

To  authorize  the  Planters  insurance,  trust  and  loan  company  of  the  state 
of  Georgia  to  establish  branches  in  this  state,  and  to  confer  certain  pow- 
ers and  privileges  thereon. 


Jan.  30,  1865 — Read  first,  to  be  read  second  time. 


Whereas,  it  appears  that  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  of 

2  Georgia  have  passed  an  act  entitled  an  act  to  incorporate  the 

3  Planters  insurance,  trust  and  loan  company,  and  to  confer  certain 

4  powers  and  privileges  thereon,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit: 

"  1.   Be  it  enacted  by  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives 

♦ 

2  of  the  state  of  Georgia,  in  general  assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby 

3  enacted  by  authority  of  the  same,  that  the  owners  of  the  shares 

4  herein  authorized  to  be  issued  be  and  are  hereby  made  a  body 
6  politic  and  corporate,  and  as  such,  under  the  name  and  style  of 

6  'The  Planters  Insurance;  Trust  and  Loan  Company,'  may  pur- 

7  chase,  hold  and  acquire  any  property  and  estate,  real  and  per- 

r 

8  sonal,  and  the  same  may  use,  let,  lease,  mortgage,  transfer  and 

9  convey,  and  otherwise   dispose  of;  and  may  sue  and  be  sued, 

10  plead  and  be  impleaded,  contract  and  be  contracted  with,  and  use 

11  a  common  seal;  and  the  same  may  change  at  pleasure  ;  and  may 

12  make  by-laws  and  regulations  for  the  management  of  their  affairs, 

13  and  have  and  use  all  the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  which  may 


528888 


2  Bill  No.  59. 

14  be  necessary  or  proper  for  them  to  have,  use  and  enjoy  as  an  ia- 

15  corporated  company:  provided  said  company  shall  not  hold  in 

16  this  state  at  any  time  more  real  estate  than  may  be  necessary  for 

17  the  convenient  transaction  of  business,,  unless  it  be  purchased 

18  bona  fide  in  payment  of  debts. 

2.   The  purpose  of  this  act  is  to  organize  an  incorporated  com- 

2  pany,  whose  capital,  or  such  part  thereof  as  they  may  deem  ex- 

3  pedient,  may  be  invested  in  rail  road  company  bonds  ahd  shares, 

4  and  other  public  and  private  securities,  which  being  placed  in 

5  Europe  or  elsewhere,  may  be  sold  or  otherwise  become  the  basis 

6  of  a  credit  enabling  such   company  to  obtain  money  or  credit 

7  upon  such  time  and  upon  such  terms  as  to  enable  them  to  use 

8  the  same  in  loans  and  advances  to  rail  road  companies,  planters, 

9  manufacturers  and  others,  at  a  less  rate  of  interest  and  for  a  longer 

10  period  than  such  loans  and  advances  are  usually  made  by  banks, 

11  and  also  to  authorize  them  to  insure  houses,  goods  and  all  species 

12  of  property  against  damage  or  loss  by  fire  or  water,  or  any  other 

13  casualty ;  and  also  to  make  insurance  of  lives,  and  to  guarantee 

14  the  payment  of  notes  and  bonds  and  the  performance  of  the  con-' 

15  tracts  of  companies,  corporations  and  individuals;  and  to  autho- 

16  rize  them  as  a  company  to  make  all  requisite  contracts,  and  espe- 

17  cially  to  receive  and  hold,  on  deposit  and  in  trust,  any  estate  or 

18  property,  real  and  personal,  including  notes,  bonds  and  accounts ; 

19  and  the  same  to  purchase,  collect,  adjust  and  settle;  and  to  sell 

20  and  dispose  thereof  in  any  market,  in  the  Confederate  States  or 


Bill  No.  59.  3 

21  elsewhere,  for  such  price  and  upon  such  terras  as  may  be  agreed 

22  on  between  them  and  the  parties  contracting  with  them ;  and  also 

23  to  make  advances  6f  money  and  of  credit,  and  to  deal  in  exchange, 

24  foreign  and  domestic. 

3.    The  capital  of  the  company  shall  consist  of  shares  of  olie 

2  hundred  dollars  each ;  and  that  fifty  per  cent,  thereof  shall  be 

3  appropriated  for,  and  used  as  the'active  capital;  and  that  fifty  per 

4  cent,  shall  be  invested  by  the  directors  in  good  securities,  and 

5  held  as  a  reserved  fund,  pledged  for  the  payment  of  any  con- 

6  tingent  liability  which  may  be  created  in  the  course  of  the  busi- 

7  ness  of  the  said  company.     And  should  any  part  of  the  reserved 

8  fund  be  at  any  time  used  in  payment  of  such  liability,  it  shall  be 

9  the  duty  of  the  directors  to  reinstate  the  sum  thus  taken  for  that 

10  use,  by  appropriating  thereto  so  much  of  the  current  income  of 

11  the  company,  as  may  be  requisite  therefor;  and  no  distribution  of 

12  profits  shall  at  any  time  be  made,  so  long  as  there  may  be  any 

13  deficiency  whatsoever  in  the  fund  reserved  as  aforesaid:  and  Duff 

14  Green,  William  Moughon,  Augustus  Seaborn  Jones,  William  B. 

15  Johnson  and  John  L.  Jones  are  hereby  appointed  commissioners  ; 

16  and  they,  or  a  majority  of  them,  may,  in  pei-son  or  by  proxy,  at 

17  such  times  and  places  as  they  may  deem  expedient,  open  books  of 

18  subscription;  and  when  four  thousand  shares  shall  have  been  paid 

19  in,  or  satisfactorily  secured,  the  subscribers  may  proceed  to  or- 

20  ganize  the  company  by  the  election  of  four  or  more  directors; 

21  and  the  directors  (three-fourths  of  whom  shall  be  citizens  of  the 


4  BiU  No.  59. 

22  Confederate  States)  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  in  the 

23  name  and  behalf  of  the  said  company,  to  have  and  exercise  all 

24  the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  which  are  intended  to  be  herein 

25  given;  and  may  from  time  to  time  increase  the  resources  of  the 

26  company,  by  borrowing  money  on  the  pledge  of  their  property, 

27  or  without  such  pledge,  or  by  new  subscriptions;  and  any  citi- 

28  zen  or  subject,  company  or  corporation  of  any  state,  government 

29  or  country,  may  subscribe  for,  purchase,  own  and  hold  shares  in 

30  the  said  company ;  and  the  owner  of  such  shares  shall  each  be  lia- 

31  ble  for,  and  bound  to  pay  the  said  company  the  sums  due  or  to 

32  become  due  upon  such   shares;  and  which  sum  or  sums  being 

33  paid,  such  owuer  shall  not  be  liable  for  any  further  payment  on 

34  account  thereof;  and  when   new   subscriptions    are  made,  the 

35  shares  may  be  issued  at  par,  or  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  owners 

36  of  shares  previously  issued. 

4.   The  by-laws  may  prescribe  the  number  of,  and  the  manner 

2  in  which  the  directors  and  officers  and  agents  of  the  company 

4 

3  shall  be  appointed,  and  designate  their  term  of  service,  powers, 

4  duties  and  compensation.     The  principal  office  shall  be  at  Macon, 

5  in  this  state ;  but  the  directors,  under  such  rules  and  regulations 

6  as  they  may  approve,  may  establish  branches  and  agencies  in  Eu- 

7  rope  and  elsewhere ;  and  the  said  directors  may  require  all  the 

8  officers  and  agents  of  the  said-  company  to  take  an  oath  that  they 

9  will  faithfully  and  honestly,  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  discharge 
10  their  duties  as  such  ;  and  any  such  officer  or  agent  misappropria- 


Bill  No.  59.  5 

11  ting  the  assets  of  said  company,  or  of  any  creditor  thereof,  with 

12  fraudulent  intent,  shall  be  personally  liable ;  and  all  the  property 

13  and  estate  of  such  officer  or  agent  shall  be  subject  to,  and  bound 

14  for  the  payment  of  any  damage  or  loss,  which  the  said  company 

15  or  creditor  thereof  may  suffer  on  account  of  such  misappropria- 

1 6  tion  ;  and  #uch  officer  or  agent,  upon  conviction  of  such  misap- 

17  propriation,  shall  be  held  to  be  guilty  of  felony,  and  may  be 

18  fined  in  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  and  imprisoned 

19  in  the  penitentiary  of  this  state  for  a  term  not  exceeding  ten 

20  years,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court  before  whom  the  conviction 

21  is  had. 

5.  So  much  of  the  capital  of  said  company  as  may  be  used 

2  within  the  limits  of  this  state,  shall  be  assessed  in  the  same  man- 

3  ner,  and  there  shall  be  paid  thereon  the  same  tax  as  is  assessed 

4  and  paid  on  the  capital  of  other  insurance  companies  in  this  state ; 

5  and  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  conflicting  with  the  provisions  of 

6  this  act,  are  hereby  repealed. 

6.  That  this  act  shall  take  effect  and  be  in  force  for  thirty 

2  years  from  and  after  its  passage,  and  until  the  same  be  modified 

3  or  repealed. 

7.  Be  it  further  enacted,  that  nothing  contained  in  this  act 

2  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  give  to  foreign  capitalists  a  controlling 

3  influence  in  this  corporation ;  but  the  same  shall  always  be  under 

4  the  direction  and  control  of  the  shareholders  of  the  Confederate 

5  States,  or  a  majority  of  the  stock  owned  by  them." 


6    .  Bill  No.  59. 

Now,  therefore,  that  the  said  company  may  be  authorized  to 
2  establish  branches  in  this  state  : 

1.   Be  it  enacted  by  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  of  Vir- 

2  ginia,  that  said  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  of  Geor- 

3  gia,  as  above  recited,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  re-enacted  and 

4  affirmed,  and  the  said  Planters  insurance,  trust  and  loan  company 

5  be  and  are  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  have  and  exercise 

6  within  this  state  all  the  rights,  powers  and  privileges  given  and 

7  intended  to  be  given  by  the  said  recited  act  (so  far  as  the  same 

8  is  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  this  state,  or  inconsistent  with 

9  the  provisions  herein  after  made),  and  to  establish  branches  in 

10  this  state,  and  to  issue  notes  as  currency  for  a  sum  not  to  exceed 

11  half  the  sum  of  the  paid  up  capital  of  the  said  branches:  pro- 

12  vided  the  said  company  shall  deposit  with  the  treasurer  of  this 

13  state,  as  security  for  the  payment  of  said  notes,  a  sum  in  rail  road 

14  bonds  or  shares,  equal  to  twice  the  sums  of  the  notes  issued  from 

15  their  branches  and  agencies  located  in  this  state :   and  provided 

16  further,  that  the  outstanding  bonds  issued  by  a  rail  road  company, 

17  whose  bonds  may  be  deposited  as  aforesaid,  shall  not  exceed  the 

18  value  of  the  assets  of  such  company,  estimating  the  rail  road  and 

19  equipments  and  real  and  personal  estate  at  cost.     And  it  shall  be 

20  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  of  this  state  to  receive  the  bonds  or 

21  shares  of  rail  road  companies,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  said  deposit, 

22  and  to  hold  the  same  in  trust  as  a  security  for  the  payment  of  the 

23  said  notes ;  which  notes,  before  they  are  put  into  circulation, 

24  shall   be   countersigned   by   a   competent,   trustworthy   person, 


Bill  No.  59.  7 

25  selected  by  the  treasurer,  with  the  assent  of  the  said  company  ; 

26  which  person,  for  countersigning  the  said  notes,  shall  receive  a 

27  reasonable  compensation,  to  be  paid  by  the  said  company.     And 

28  in  case  of  non-payment  of  any  of  the  said  notes,  the  holder  may 

29  cause  protest  to  be  made ;  and  upon  proof  thereof,  thirty  days' 

30  notice  having  been  given  to  the  said  company,  if  the  requisite 

31  funds  be  not  otherwise  provided,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 

32  treasurer  to  sell  so  many  of  the  said  bonds  or  shares,  deposited  as 

33  aforesaid,  as  may  be  requisite  therefor,  and  with  the  proceeds  of 

34  such  sale  to  redeem  the  said  protested  notes  ;  and,  until  the  other 

35  banks  of  this  state  are  required  to  resume  specie  payments,  the 

36  said  company  shall  redeem  their  notes  with  the  treasury  notes  or 

37  the  certificates  of  indebtedness  of  one  of  the  Confederate  States 

38  or  of  the  Confederate  States ;  and  whenever  the  other  banks  of 

39  this  state  shall  be  required  by  law  to  resume  speciei  payments, 

40  then  the  said  company  sliall  redeem  their  notes  with  specie  ;  and 

41  the  treasurer  shall  receive  the  interest  and  dividends  falling  due 

42  on  the  bonds  and  shares  held  by  him  on  deposit  as  aforesaid ; 

43  which  shall  be  paid  over  to  the  said  company,  deducting  there- 

44  from  a  reasonable  sum,  not  exceeding  five  hundred  dollars  per 

45  unnum,  for  his  services  rendered  by  him  as  aforesaid. 

2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  that  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  con- 

2  flicting  with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby 

3  repealed. 

3.  This  act  shall  be  in  force  from  its  passage,  and  shall  be 

2  subject  to  amendment,  modification  or  repeal,  at  the  will  of  the 

3  general  assembly. 


